OP Nun Joy No. 3: Holy Preaching with our Brothers!

Ah, summer. School’s out, ordinations are done, time to sit back and enjoy, right? For many of our friars, it’s time to move! Summer brings new ministry assignments, new cities, new adventures. And it’s always an adventure for us nuns as we learn who’s moved where. As Preacheresses, we are associated with the Order’s “holy preaching” by our prayer and penance so we try to keep up with our friars as they are coming and going so we can better pray for them, their ministry and those they minister.

On Monday, we had the joy of having with us Father Thomas More Barba, O.P., of the Southern Dominican Province. He first became acquainted with our community during his novitiate year, which he spent with the novices of the Western Dominican Province at St. Dominic’s in San Francisco. Newly ordained a couple weeks ago, he returned to the Bay Area and offered a Mass of Thanksgiving in our chapel, followed by a visit in the parlor. And he shared with us the joyous news that his first assignment is chaplain at the University of Dallas, his alma mater and where he first met the Dominicans.

Since the beginning of the Order of Preachers, Dominicans have been present and active in preaching and ministering to students. St. Dominic, Blessed Jordan, and their sons and brothers long recognized the thirst for truth young people possess, their openness to learning, and their energy for things they love and are passionate about. And what could be more important than loving God and our eternal life? Because St. Dominic and Blessed Jordan shared with them the love and compassion God had planted in their own hearts and minds, that is, the fruit of their contemplation, after hearing and seeing them, many young men and women decided to leave all and follow in their footsteps in the Dominican Order.

This love and respect for young men and women, the desire to accompany them on their journey to God continues in the Order – you will find friars and sisters teaching and preaching, serving students as chaplains and campus ministers and offering them Christ in the sacraments on and near college campuses across the United States. In the Western Dominican Province alone, you’ll find them at: University of Washington, Stanford University, University of Utah, University of Oregon, University of Nevada (Las Vegas), Occidental College (Los Angeles), University of Arizona, and Thomas Aquinas College.

We especially remember our friars during this time as they transition to new assignments, and in particular our friars assigned to schools and campus ministry, their ministry teams and student leaders as they make preparation for the upcoming academic year.